My name is Equinox, the small horse from the dawn of time, drawn by a prehistoric man on a cave wall. This is the story about my life in the dark and of my different encounters with humans under torchlight.
Noctulette is my little bat friend. She flies and flutters all around the cave and describes to me the other animals drawn on the cave walls : an auroch, two rhinoceroses further down, a megaloceros nearby, lions chasing bisons over here, and a mammoth over there.
All of us wait here patiently, hoping to see people once again.
Until one day…

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     Equinox, The Small Horse from the Decorated Cave of Pont-d'Arc, Ardèche is an album designed for young readers written and illustrated by Anne Douillet. This long poem is superimposed onto the pastel-enhanced watercolor illustrations. The reader is easily seduced by its subtle and delicate presentation.      
The story is told by a little horse drawn long ago on a cave wall in Ardèche, who comes to life after a prehistoric man etches him with the tip of his charcoal. Equinox becomes the witness and narrator to everything that happens within the cave, including the different geological phenomena that take place over time. We, too, become witnesses to the successive passages of prehistoric man, bears, and other people dressed in fur that the little horse is able to observe in the flickering light of their torches. We also learn about the collapse of the entrance which plunged the cave into total darkness and prohibited access to the cave for tens of thousands of years. Finally, other humans arrive, different this time, wearing headlamps. They are the « inventors » who bring these creatures on the walls to life once again, giving us a beautiful image of this secret life of darkness in desperate need of light !      
Additional information and explanations are presented in an extremely fun and unique way by «Noctulette», the little bat from this underground world who flies and flutters from page to page describing to the small horse everything within the cave that he himself cannot see.      
What's really remarkable about this book is the accuracy of the information within it. The graphic reproductions of the wall figures, the time sequence, the description of this underground world, the animals, the techniques used by the artists, and the references to prehistoric man's spiritual life, are all perfectly documented and rigourously precise.      
Children, along with their parents, will be able to share a moment of pleasure, diving into and discovering the story of the small horse from the dawn of time, who will guide them through the enchanted universe of the cave, allowing them to reflect upon these 36,000 year old drawings and majestic geological concretions. Together, they will deepen their knowledge of prehistory and explore this incredible cave which has recently been awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site status.      
Amazement guaranteed !
Dominique Baffier, Honorary Curator of Heritage, Chauvet Pont d’Arc Cave ; Associate Researcher, UMR 7041, ArScan, CNRS, Nanterre